Author's Note: Hmmm. I don't really have anything to say about this chapter other than this is the one where Inuyasha finally arrives. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me.
Kagome's Gone
by Maia Serrelinda
Chapter 6
Inuyasha sped on towards his destination. The falling rain didn't hamper his search too much, and he had the feeling that he was very close to the end of his journey. He could see a small village on the horizon ahead of him and altered his course just slightly so he would pass by the outskirts of it instead of straight through it. Somehow he knew that this was not where Kagome was being held.
******
Kagome strode briskly into the dining room, determined to convince Tsuki not to go through with this. The youkai was dressed in an outfit similar to what she had been wearing when she'd abducted Kagome, only this time the hakama were a deep plum color instead of black.
Tsuki looked up from her tea, a serious expression on her face. Her hair was bound at the crown of her head into a high ponytail, which was then braided and tied at the end with a leather thong. "Your hanyou is very close. He will arrive this morning."
Kagome firmly pushed back the sudden elation that threatened to bubble over. "Why do you have to kill him? He didn't do anything and I just can't believe that his father just killed Hana like that."
Tsuki frowned and rose. She turned to Kagome and said, "Please excuse me. I have much to do to prepare." She walked out of the room.
Kagome felt hot tears pool in her eyes and slide down her cheeks. She hadn't been able to do anything at all! She sank down on to one of the cushions near the table, burying her head in her arms and sobbing silently.
******
Inuyasha raced past the village. He could see a large compound some distance beyond the village; he guessed that this was his destination. The rain continued to fall, though he guessed it was almost noon by this point. He poured his energy into a final burst of speed and reached the gates a few minutes later.
"Come out, you bastards! I know you've got Kagome! You'd better not have hurt her!" He withdrew Tetsusaiga from its sheath, feeling it transform to its larger form.
Silence.
"Bastards! Open up or I'll destroy this whole place!" He held Tetsusaiga, ready to let loose a Kaze no Kizu at a moment's notice.
Silence.
Inuyasha growled and raised Tetsusaiga--
The gate opened a crack.
Inuyasha lowered the sword and shoved his way through the gate.
Looking around almost wildly, he saw that he was in a small courtyard. Whirling around, he saw a female youkai, about as tall as he was. She was clothed in a cream-colored kimono and deep purple hakama, styled like his own but not quite as loose.
"Inuyasha. I have been waiting for you," the youkai said.
"You have Kagome, don't you?!" the hanyou snarled.
"Your mate is safe. I have not harmed her."
Inuyasha cringed inwardly. There went his chance to tell Kagome what he had done on his own terms! He only hoped she'd taken it well. "Who the hell are you?"
"I am called Tsuki. Your father killed my mother and my sister. He is gone, thus my revenge will be visited upon you and your brother."
"Don't make me laugh. There's no way a wimpy youkai like you could hope to defeat me."
Tsuki's eyes narrowed. "You underestimate me, hanyou. However, we will not fight this day. You are clearly exhausted from your journey and I do not want the fun to end too soon. Tomorrow I will kill you. Today you are my guest. Follow me."
Perplexed and somewhat dumbfounded by Tsuki's behavior, he followed her towards the house. As soon as he entered, something warm and soft collided with him, nearly knocking him over.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome hurled herself at the hanyou, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "You came for me!" She was crying, frantic with her relief and the knowledge that he was safe, at least for the time being.
"Kagome!" He looked down at her, finally able to put a name with the force that had collided with him. He wrapped his arms around her shaking form, trying to comfort her. He forgot his previous show of indifference and lowered his face to her hair, inhaling her scent deeply. Yes, she was safe and unharmed, even though she was upset.
Tsuki cleared her throat. Inuyasha looked up as she quirked an eyebrow at the couple. "If you are quite finished, I will show you your room."
Gently disengaging Kagome's hold on him, he released her but kept a hold on one hand, twining his clawed fingers with her smaller ones. He gave the delicate hand a soft squeeze in an effort to calm her. He could feel her still shaking slightly. He looked at her and found that she was gazing back at him with wet, spiky eyelashes and damp eyes. He smiled at her and then tugged gently on her hand, indicating that they should follow Tsuki.
Hand in hand, the hanyou and the miko followed the youkai down the hallway.
Through her haze of relief, Kagome realized that they were heading in the direction of Kagome's own room. Tsuki, however, passed Kagome's room and stopped at a screen just past the room. She slid the screen aside to reveal a room that was the mirror image of Kagome's room.
"This is your room. Your bathing chamber is through that door," here she gestured to the door set into one wall, "Your mate's room is next door. I will leave you to talk. Kagome will show you to the dining room when it is time for the evening meal. I will have a tray brought to you for now." Tsuki spun on her heel and left, closing the screen behind her.
******
Tsuki was upset. Really, really upset. She'd had the perfect chance to kill that stupid hanyou and she couldn't do it! His back was to her and he was busy yelling his fool head off. He would not have even noticed! So why couldn't she do it? She paced her bedroom restlessly.
She'd had Father's sword and she was prepared to let loose any one of several damaging spells. What stopped her?
She ruthlessly stomped down the tiny voice that said, Maybe you simply didn't want to kill him. She flopped down on her futon and stared at the ceiling morosely. Tomorrow she'd have to do it. She couldn't believe she'd just invited him to stay the night. What the hell had she been thinking?
******
Rin's stomach growled.
Jaken scowled up at the young girl, who was, as usual, seated on Aun's back. He opened his mouth to snap at her when he plowed into something. From his new position on the ground, he saw bits of sky through the leaves of the trees overhead, and silver silk glistening in the sunlight, flowing softly like the strands of dreams...
Jaken snapped himself out of his daydream. Ah, Sesshoumaru-sama....he knew Sesshoumaru-sama hated it when he got all starry-eyed. He sat up quickly, aided by the acorn Rin had thrown at his head. "Rin!"
Rin scowled at Jaken and sniffed. "Sesshoumaru-sama! Why did we stop? Sesshoumaru-sama!"
Sesshoumaru stood silently for a minute, then turned to look at Rin. "That hanyou and his woman have been here. Someone else, also, I think...."
Blinking, Sesshoumaru changed direction to follow the scent, trying to place the scent of the other. It was as if they had tried to conceal their own scent, but none of those tricks would suffice to fool Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands. Without waiting for Aun and Jaken to follow, he walked on, towards the mountains.
******
Inuyasha sighed. He reluctantly released Kagome's hand, knowing that they needed to have a serious discussion. Thanks to Tsuki's last remarks, there was no way in hell Kagome didn't know about his claim. From Kagome's reaction - rather, Kagome's non-reaction - he guessed this wasn't the first time she'd heard about it. He moved over to the dressing table and sat, motioning for Kagome to sit on the futon. She flushed slightly and moved to sit.
As she walked across the room, Inuyasha watched her. She was wearing clothes he had never seen her wear - a blue yukata. He liked the way she looked in it, and not just because of the way it outlined her trim waist. It made her look as if she belonged here, with him, in his time.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He looked at Kagome, who was now seated on the futon, looking at him expectantly. He thought she looked a little nervous, but there also seemed to be a sparkle in her eyes. His hopes rose - maybe she wasn't angry.
Kagome gazed silently at Inuyasha. She guessed he wanted to talk about the "mate" thing. He didn't react when Tsuki mentioned it so she was pretty sure he was aware he'd claimed her.
They sat in silence, just looking at each other.
"Kagome--"
"Inuyasha--"
They broke off. "You go first," Kagome said.
Inuyasha took a deep breath. "Well. I guess you heard what Tsuki said. About you being my mate, I mean."
Kagome nodded. "She mentioned that you had claimed me but that she could tell we weren't fully mated." She blushed.
"I figured it was the best way to protect you," Inuyasha said. He looked down at the floor, unable to face her.
Kagome's heart sank. Maybe he didn't really mean it the way she had hoped he did.
"Protect me?" she asked in a small voice.
"Yeah. If other demons knew you were claimed, you would be safer. They would know that you were mine." He flushed. "To protect, I mean."
Kagome bowed her head, determined not to let him see her tears. She choked back a small sob. "So...you claimed me only to protect me?"
"Uh.....you could say that." Inuyasha looked up at the ceiling.
Kagome stopped trying to hold back her tears. She jumped up and turned to face him angrily. "How dare you!"
Inuyasha blinked with surprise. "I was just doing what I thought would keep you safe! It was the only thing I could think of!"
"You bastard!" she hissed. "How could you do something like that? You had to have known how I felt, it wasn't like I ever tried to hide it, but you give me the one thing I dreamed of most and then you take it away by telling me it's for my safety?" Before she was really aware of it, her hand snaked up of its own accord and slapped the hanyou.
As she pulled her hand back, tears streaming down her face, Inuyasha's hand shot up to capture her wrist. He tugged on it, pulling her closer. He used his free hand to wrap it around her waist and pull her down on his lap.
Kagome thought her heart would break. Her face was wet with tears and she was crying in big, gasping breaths. She dimly registered that Inuyasha had pulled her down to sit on his lap. All the frustration and pent-up emotion she had hidden for so long came out as he began to stroke her hair, trying to comfort her.
"Shhh, koi. It's all right. Don't cry," came the whisper from somewhere close to her ear. Her sobs gradually lessened and she was vaguely aware that he had picked her up and had moved to the futon, where he cradled her in his lap and continued to stroke her hair.
Her sobbing stopped, though hot tears still slid down her face. She tucked her head underneath his chin, resting her cheek on his chest. From this distance she could hear his heartbeat.
Inuyasha smiled and dropped a kiss on the top of Kagome's head. "I'm sorry, koi. I should have told you sooner."
Kagome's mind unfuzzed enough to register that he had called her 'koi' - twice. Her tears stopped she blinked, slowly.
"So...," he said softly. "You dreamed of it, hn?"
"You had to have suspected. I never tried to hide the way I felt about you." Kagome chuckled ruefully. She wouldn't have been surprised if the whole universe knew how she felt about the foul-mouthed hanyou.
"I thought you cared, but I never wanted to force this on you if you didn't want it. I hoped you wouldn't find out until much, much later. By then we would have worked this out." Inuyasha's voice rumbled through Kagome's body comfortingly. She felt warm, safe, and protected.
"You thought I wouldn't want this? To be mated to you?" She blushed again.
"I didn't know what to think. There was never really any time just for us. We were always busy and everyone else was always around." He was so close to her ear that she could feel each puff of breath.
"So...what happens now?" Kagome plucked nervously at the fabric of his fire-rat haori.
Kagome squeaked in surprise as Inuyasha suddenly rose, setting her gently on her feet. He took her hands in his and looked her in the eyes. He suddenly looked serious and Kagome blinked a few times, wondering what caused the abrupt change.
"Kagome."
She blinked. "Inuyasha?"
"Kagome, would you do me the honor of becoming my mate?"
Kagome gasped. Then her eyes narrowed. "Why, for my protection?"
Inuyasha shook his head in the negative. "I shouldn't have said that. I was afraid of your reaction. Kagome...I love you. I want to spend my life at your side. Will you have me?"
She gaped soundlessly for a split second, then nearly knocked the hanyou over for the second time that day as she hurled herself into his arms. "Yes!" His simple speech brought her to tears again, this time from happiness.
Inuyasha's arms tightened around the girl in his arms. One hand slid up her back to tangle in her silky blue-black tresses. He caressed the back of neck before cradling her chin in his hand, using it to tilt her head up. He gazed into her eyes and smiled again as he angled his head down to meet hers.
Kagome couldn't breathe. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. She looked into his golden eyes that gleamed with love and her own eyes slid closed. Her lips parted slightly in anticipation.
There was a knock on the screen separating the room from the hallway. Kagome and Inuyasha, startled, jumped apart. Inuyasha swore lightly under his breath and Kagome giggled nervously. She walked to the screen and slid it aside, but there was no one there. Looking down, she saw the tray of food Tsuki had said would be delivered to them. She picked it up and brought it into the room.
******
